Rooftops
by blueholly
Summary: In which Lily Evans and James Potter think in similar places, though neither knew it until this story. Also, in which Froggie pointlessly states her inability to write summaries again. Bet y'all are getting kind of sick of that. R&R...


**Author's Fun Time To Blab On- Help me! I need a VERY, VERY good reason as to why I am on fanfiction writing awful stories instead of doing my French and English homework! Especially since I don't even write _good_ fanfiction. Ah well. **

**This is going to be a chaptered story, though it may not have many chapters. I decided to actually post it because **Apathetically Interested **mentioned how difficult it was to review oneshots and… well… it was there. I KNOW it's awful, but, for those of you who seem to love FLAMING MY STORIES (sorry… caps catch people's attention), I just want to say that the least you could do is leave an email address so I can reply. Otherwise, I'm just going to delete them. **

**Anymoo, I'd like to dedicate this story to:**

Lady Potter of Tortall **and **Southernwitch13** for reviewing all my stories and being so great.**

**Also, cookies to **Southerwitch13 **and **meansuperstar7**. (Extra Note: **Ananda9… **you get a cookie too). I'd give them to all my reviewers, but obviously no one but these two reads Author's Notes anyway, so why give cookies to those who won't appreciate them? You two know what those cookies are for. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I won't be amusing about it since I don't find it funny.**

**On with the story!**

**Rooftops-**

Whenever I'm unable to work things out, I go the Owlery. It's a nice place really, with a beautiful view, and going there doesn't hold all the implications that taking a trip to the Astronomy Tower does. Still, I never stay in the room itself for long, because I have a much more special, private place that I discovered in my first year at Hogwarts: The roof.

No one else ever goes up onto the roof, but it's easy to get there. All I have to do is climb out the Owlery window and pull myself off the window ledge using the solid gutter. I needn't fear falling, because even if I did, I've perfected numerous Charms that would cushion or prevent my fall. It's a long way down; I'd have time to perform them.

So naturally, when I realized that I didn't hate Potter so utterly and completely as I thought I did, I fled to my usual rooftop to sort out my feelings. Somehow been up so high put things into perspective for me.

Potter was different, but I wasn't sure I really liked the change. The old Potter was black and white, and thus very easy to hate. The new Potter somehow made me feel guilty for disliking him. He didn't speak to me in the bigheaded, self-assured way that the old Potter had, and though he performed pranks, they weren't _mean_. I even found myself trying very hard not to laugh at some of them. I found myself occasionally laughing at his jokes too, because they were actually _funny_. He had stopped being despicable, and it annoyed me. How was I supposed to be full of righteous anger at him if there was nothing to be righteously angry about?

I sighed as I climbed carefully out on to the ledge and swung my body upwards in one easy, practiced motion. I spent far too much time on top of the Owlery; growing up is often very confusing. There was a light wind from the south that ruffled my hair as I stretched out on the shingles and placed my feet securely in the gutter.

'_One day that gutter is going to give out, and _then_ where will I be?_' I thought lazily as I stared at the clouds. They were pearly and puffy, a sure sign of rain. I wondered if I would have to go inside, or if the rain would be soft enough that I could stay out until dinnertime.

With these pleasant, meandering thoughts, I forgot about my Potter problems and just sat comfortably, as a drizzling rain started to fall. An hour passed and the drizzle turned into a downpour. The light was starting to fade, and I finally moved from my comfortable resting spot. I thought, for a second, that I saw a similar movement on the opposite tower, but shook the feeling away easily. No one ever went onto the rooftops but me, and that was a fact.

As I maneuvered by body into the open Owlery window, I contemplated spending the night on my rooftop. I'd done it before, though never during the rain. I decided against it as I swung my legs over the ledge, remembering what my friends had said the _last_ time I had left the dorm for a night. I stood up, brushed myself off, and walked straight into James Potter, who had just burst into the tower, looking as wet as I was sure I was.

"Sorry Potter." I said, hoping he hadn't seen my entrance. He just stared at me.

"Did you just come in through the window?" he asked. I sighed. Seven years of going up to the roof and no one had ever caught me. Like I said, the Owlery, unlike the Astronomy Tower, was not a popular place. Then, when someone actually did, it had to be James Potter.

"I thought I saw someone on the roof over here, but I never thought it would be you Evans." He continued. I gaped at him as it dawned on me that the figure I had seen on the roof of the Astronomy Tower had not been a figment of my imagination.

"You… _you_ were on the other roof?" I demanded. He nodded.

"I go there when I have to think." He said quietly.

"Since when?" I demanded, angry that he sounded so exactly like me. _I_ was the one who went up onto roofs to think, not Potter! That was far too poetic for Potter. It was far too… well… far too 'New Potter'.

"Since first year," he said, "I just climbed up one day when I was especially angry at everything, and I realized that it help me put things in perspective." He looked at me for a second, before asking, "How long have you been coming up here?"

I turned away and mumbled, "First year."

He studied me. "You can't have done," he said after a pause, "I would have seen you."

I glared at him. "I could say exactly the same." I said. "_You_ can't have done because I would have seen _you_. We can't _both_ have been going up for seven years and have missed each other every time!" Then I had a thought. "It _is _true that I don't look over at the other tower very often, though." I admitted grudgingly.

He grinned. "I don't look over here at all really. I spend most of my time looking down at the grounds. There's so much going on down there, but sometimes it's nice to watch and not take part."

"I look upwards," I said, embarrassed, "I'm scared that I'll become height sick if I look down."

James smiled. "Would you mind if I…" He trailed off uncertainly, studying my face.

"No, no! Of course not! It's not like it's my property, after all." All the same, I was glad he'd asked my permission. I turned around and climbed back onto the ledge, James right behind me.

"The windowsill's quite a bit smaller over here." He commented, sounding slightly nervous. I grinned at him.

"That because no one has to rest their telescopes on this ledge. I noticed that the other day during Astrology." I explained, curling my fingers expertly around the edge of the gutter puling myself up onto the roof. Then I turned and crawled over to watch James. He too wrapped his fingers on the gutter edge, but he swung both his legs up together in order to get to the top.

"Welcome to the Owlery Roof, Potter," I said courteously, "Would you like a tour?"

"Thank you, Evans, that would be much appreciated." He replied, grinning.

"This is the gutter," I said with a serious expression on my face. "And this is the roof. I usually lie right here because there are a few loose shingles on the other side. Oh, and this is where I used to keep my food supply," I said, indicating a small bag hanging from a hook just under the jutting roof, "I stopped that in four year when it attracted some winged rats from the Forest, who then pestered me for a week. Now I keep a few of my favorite books in here, but nothing else."

"What's this?" asked James, pulling up another bag from the other side of the tower. I blushed. I'd forgotten about _that_ bag.

"Nothing!" I said far, far too quickly, trying to snatch it from him.

"Oh _really_?" He asked teasingly. He started to empty the bag, and then thought better of it. "Sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to…"

If his leaving my stuff alone didn't surprise me, his apology certainly did.

"It's fine." I herd myself mumble. "They're just a few sketches I did back in third year." '_The year I before you started acting like a jerk and asking me out… the year I had a serious crush on you…'_ I added silently. Quite a few of those sketches were bad impressions of James, if I remembered correctly. "Anyway. This is my rooftop." I said, trying to steer the conversation away from the bag.

Then it hit me. For some reason, being on the rooftop earlier had caused me to take _total_ leave of my senses! I had not only talked to Potter in a manner that was civil, I had also _invited him up to my most private place in the castle_. But what was really affecting me was the former. A civil conversation with _Potter_? Was the world coming to an end? More importantly, was I losing my sanity?

"I… I have to go Potter." I stuttered, starting to climb off the roof again.

"Where to?" he asked. He sounded genuinely interested.

"Well… the world's kind of coming to and end and I-" I blinked. I blushed crimson. '_I cannot believe I just _said_ that!'_ I thought with a gasp. Then I made the worst possible mistake. I covered my mouth with my hands.

In any other circumstances, covering one's mouth with one's hands would not be considered a problem. Unfortunately, I was climbing down from the roof of the Owlery, which was, incidentally, very high off the ground. And, as one might expect, my hands were playing quite a big part in my climb, namely keeping me on the building. So covering my mouth with my hands was a very, very big problem.

I fell off the building.

My wand was lying next to my lamp on my bedside table. I could see it in my mind's eye as I fell. It was taunting me.

So I did the only thing I could think of.

I closed my eyes and prayed.

**MORE Author's Fun Time to Blab On- Teehee! Cliffie! We all know what's going to happen… but cliffie all the same! Yayness!**

**This fic just came to me while I was sitting on the roof of my school during lunch break, so I wrote it. I'm sure it's clichéd, but as you _may_ have noticed (if the flames are any indication, you have) that many of my fics are.**

**To review or not to review? What a stupid question. I can even take flames, as long as you people LEAVE YOUR EMAILS so I can reply!**

**If you find mistakes, _please_ tell me. I tried to make Lily as un-OOC as possible… I kind of failed. Oh well.**

**MUCHOS LUFF TO Y'ALL**

**.:Froggie:.**


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